Young blood makes for good wine
The Pyrmont Festival of Food, Wine and Art (PFFWA) is in full swing across the Pyrmont peninsula.
The festival is part of a new partnership between Pyrmont and the Mudgee wine region which aims to highlight the food, wine and creative talents of both regions.
And it wouldn’t be the PFFWA without the help of Mudgee winemakers.
Jacob Stein has a long tradition of winemaking in his blood. His grandfather established Robert Stein Vineyard and Winery in 1976 on 75 acres of Mudgee land, and his father is Andrew Stein president of the Mudgee Wine Grape Growers Association. At 27, Jacob is the youngest winemaker in Mudgee.
Jacob said that he was excited about the collaboration between Pyrmont and Mudgee.
“This festival will give us the opportunity to portray the type of wines we are making in Mudgee and show the people of Pyrmont how innovative and great the quality of our wines are that we are making,” he said. “Join that with the great food and hospitality of Pyrmont and you’ll see a great partnership.”
Jacob spoke of the regions varying soil types, elevations and exceptional fruit that made his wine-making experience so much easier.
“It’s just like in cooking, if you have the right ingredients you can make a good meal, wine is like that if you have the right fruit.”
Robert Stein Vineyard and Winery will be matching wines to dishes prepared at Café Morso tonight.
In 2010 Jacob was nominated by the wine society for young winemaker of the year and placed in the top 10.
“As Pyrmont has undergone a dining renaissance with new restaurants and big-name chefs coming to the precinct, so too has the Mudgee Region wine industry seen young, up and coming winemakers like Jacob Stein, Michael Slater (Thistle Hill), Josh Clementson (Skimstone), Julia Conchie (Di Lusso) and Robert Black (Bunnamagoo) offer new varietals and fresh interpretations of well-known varieties,” Lucy White, CEO of Mudgee Region Tourism Inc.
Located three and a half hours drive from Sydney in Central NSW the Mudgee Region has 150 years of wine-making history and is now the third largest grape-growing region in NSW.
“We are one of Australia’s first regions with an organic wine movement with the oldest certified organic grower at Botobolar; the award-winning Thistle Hill; and five organic wineries. Visitors to Pyrmont Festival will enjoy a diverse range of quality wines the Mudgee Region has to offer, from organic to Italian varietals and our renowned big, bold reds.”
On May 15 PFFWA will reach its finale with the Pyrmont Art Prize a celebration of food, wine and art at Pirrama Park. The day will feature over 300 pieces of custom-made art on sale from a range of emerging and professional artists from metropolitan Sydney and the Mudgee region.
Visitors on the day will be able to sample over 120 different wines from 30 Mudgee winemakers.
Robert Stein Vineyard wines will be available at select bottle shops across Pyrmont, for more information on the festival or to make a booking head to www.pyrmontfestival.com .
